Updated November 27, 2017

Outlook CRM is not something that Microsoft offers to its users out of the box, but you can easily turn Outlook into a CRM powerhouse to beef up your sales performance. Outlook is primarily a business driven email, contact and calendar management system that caters to the needs most business users.

However, if you’re in sales, you’ll find yourself quickly looking outside of Outlook’s capabilities to meet the demands of your sales position in order to easily keep track and manage leads, contacts, deals, pipeline updates, etc.

Luckily, there are a few ways turn Outlook turn it into “Microsoft Outlook CRM”.

Drum roll please….

1) Microsoft Outlook Customer Manager (Outlook CRM)

Outlook Customer Manager is a cloud-based solution that comes free and at no extra cost for users with an Office 365 Business Premium plan. If you don’t have a Business Premium plan, you’ll have to upgrade.

With Outlook Customer Manager you can manage customer relationships right from Outlook without having to install or learn anything new. It automatically organizes customer information like emails, meetings, calls, notes, files, tasks, deals and deadlines in a timeline next to your inbox. You can also share customer information with your team so everyone knows what’s going on.

It also has a mobile app.

However, note that Microsoft Customer Manager is a “light CRM” that turns your Outlook into an Outlook CRM. If you need admin control features, specialized reports, autodialers, mass email, link tracking, analytics, metrics and other automations — you will need to look for another solution. Before jumping to Microsoft Customer Manager, make sure to read: “3 Reasons Not to Use Microsoft’s New Outlook CRM Offering on Inc.com”

2) Prophet CRM

Prophet CRM helps you manage your client relationships within Outlook and includes other sales features like email tracking, activity tracking, opportunities, dashboards and many more. It also offers on-premise and cloud hosting.

3) Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM – Outlook CRM

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a stand-alone CRM product from Microsoft. It’s geared toward larger businesses, but has plug-ins for Outlook that allow you to operate Dynamics CRM functions from Outlook.

You’ll need to install software and get your administrator to implement. For this and other reasons some users don’t find Microsoft Dynamics as easy as Outlook Customer Manager or other tools. However, You’ll have to be the judge.

4) Digsy AI – Outlook CRM Alternative

Digsy AI helps bring together your Microsoft Exchange, Office 365, Gmail, G Suite, landline and cell phone service under a simple and easy-to-use sales interface that automates data-entry, workflow and syncs across systems. It helps you prospect, follow-up, identify interested leads and stay on top of deals in 50% less time. With Digsy AI you can: